Painkiller (Judas Priest album)

Recording

Painkiller is the first Judas Priest album to feature drummer Scott Travis, who replaced long-time drummer Dave Holland in 1989. Travis was previously a member of Los Angeles band Racer X. The album was recorded at Miraval Studios, Brignoles, France in early 1990 and mixed at Wisseloord Studios, Hilversum, the Netherlands later that year. It was produced by the band and Chris Tsangarides, marking the first time since 1978's Killing Machine that Judas Priest had not worked with Tom Allom.

Lyrical content

Many of the album's songs have a fantasy motif, such as the title track describing a superhero-like character who saves mankind from destruction. "A Touch of Evil" uses themes of possession and magic as metaphors for romance. Rob Halford claimed in an interview that the song "Hell Patrol" is about US Air Force pilots flying missions in the Gulf War which started a few months before the release of the album.

Release

Despite the album being finished in March 1990, the album's release was delayed due to the pending, much-publicized subliminal message trial that began on 16 July 1990. The band was the subject of a civil lawsuit alleging their recording was responsible for the suicide attempts of two young men in Reno, Nevada on 23 December 1985. The case was eventually dismissed on 24 August 1990. With the trial behind them, the band finally released the album on 3 September 1990 on LP, cassette and CD.

The album was certified Gold by RIAA in January 1991. A remastered CD was released in May 2001, including a live recording of "Leather Rebel" and a previously unreleased song, "Living Bad Dreams". The album received a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance at the 33rd Annual Grammy Awards, losing to Metallica's cover of the Queen song "Stone Cold Crazy".

Reception and Legacy

The critical reaction to Painkiller has been overwhelmingly positive, especially from the metal community. On metal-archives.com, the album holds an average score of 93% based on 23 reviews.

When polls of the greatest all-time metal albums are conducted, Painkiller is typically highly regarded. For example, the website Metal Storm conducted a top 200 metal albums poll and Painkiller ranked number six.

Halford's departure

Following the tour for this album, singer Rob Halford left the band in May 1992 and maintained little contact with his former bandmates throughout the 1990s. The reason for this was growing tensions within the band, along with Halford's desire to explore new musical territory by creating a new band of his own, Fight, which forced him to legally leave Judas Priest to allow this creation to be sold. Judas Priest remained inactive for several years after Halford had gone; however, the band would eventually re-vamp, record, and tour, recruiting new singer Tim 'Ripper' Owens in 1996, who would perform on the studio albums Jugulator and Demolition.

CD

All tracks written by Glenn Tipton, Rob Halford and K. K. Downing, except where noted. On the original LP and cassette, Side 1 is tracks 1-5 and Side 2 tracks 6-10.